A/N: See? I can actually do it if I set my mind to it. I wrote this in under one hour... and I had to thank this (un)lucky stroke of argument I'm having with someone for helping, so... angst!~

That... and I miss Mom... and sis. *sigh, cries*

Enjoy, I guess...?

What's Dead Stays Dead

Summary: Since when has it ever been wrong to wish for something good for the people you love? Familial love and sacrifice. Angst/Family/Hurt/Comfort. Written for Poirot Cafe's Short Story Competition#10: Mistake

He never regretted donning the white cloak. Nothing but the best came to him with that, after all. Not only had he finally found that one heart-stopping, gravity-defying life void of dullness he's always wanted to have even way before his high school years; he had also, in his own way, done a lot of things for the greater good.

Most notably, that first night he ever graced the skies like a giant white bird in flight, the same night he changed his and a woman's fate forever. To save her from a life of lies, he had to take her place, and The Woman with a Thousand Faces dies with it. The world will forget Phantom Lady, and she'll be free to roam as she pleases.

Donning the cloak meant freedom. He flew wherever he want, went wherever he can—and, mind you, he can literally pop out anywhere—unbound by shackles of responsibility… well, except maybe for his unspoken oath to his dear wife. She's the only one he'll allow control over him. Other than that, he's a Free Bird that roams around driving cops and high-profile criminals alike at wit's end, creating ciphers day in and day out, providing entertainment to his loyal supporters. He was no ordinary thief. He was the thief that was secretly on the side of justice. He stole from the corrupt, help put them in cages and give help to those who need it… Only some people don't see it that way.

In the entirety of his career, no heist was any better than the ones when his Father was present. He was a notch quicker than anyone else, even greater than the great Inspector of the Task Force, himself. It was befitting of him, a rising novelist, as he was the one who named him at the first place.

Kaitou KID, his name was, and in Japan it gained rapid popularity among the masses.

Only, at the peak of his ten-year career, his sudden disappearance shook the world. On the same year, world renowned magician Kuroba Toichi met his end as well. Two celebrity deaths in no less than a day left the world in unspoken grief.

The world mourns, ignorant to the connection between KID and the magician.

But no grief can compare to what the magician's family feels. The loving wife, robbed off of a husband, continues being a mother, doing the same chores every single day. The loyal son, robbed off of a father, stays at the top of his class, making everyone smile with his antics and being the perfect child his parents want him to be… or at least, that's what they want everyone to see. That's what they want everyone to think, and little by little they were robbed off of the ability to feel.

Unbeknownst to the two, he was always there to see it, always watching over them. He bore witness as their hearts broke and shatter into thousand fragile pieces every time they fake a smile, or laugh at the littlest of things. His heart broke to see them awake, crying in the middle of the night, because he was no longer there… and it broke even more because the truth is he was there, he still is, and he can't do anything about it.

Because the truth is he had to fake his death. He had to keep them safe and away from the people who wanted him dead. He had to be away from them. He had to sacrifice his life and his freedom so they can live and be free but…

But now…

Now he sees them…

The cold, invisible iron bars he built around them…

And he can't be even more ashamed of himself.

It was funny, he thinks. He had to save this same woman and their child from their deaths this time by living a life of lie—the complete opposite of what he did all those years ago to save her. And even if the world forgets the KID, the magician father of one won't, so in a way, KID still lives in memory, and he didn't like it one bit.

However, it's too late to back out now. What's dead stays dead. He will continue searching for The Gem in silence. He will continue fighting in the darkness. All he asks for is that, when the time comes and they find out about his lies (he trusts they would), they will still accept him—understand just why he had to do what he did, why he had to lie at the first place.

He wanted something good for them. He wanted them to live. Was that so much to ask for? Since when has it ever been wrong to wish for something good for the people you love?

He never regretted putting on the white cloak. He never regretted making a family he can call his own. He never regretted being hunted down by a freak organization obsessed with eternal youth.

But this, whenever he sees his big but fragile little boy, all curled up in his blankets, talking to the unmoving portrait of him in his room… whenever he sees the love of his life doing the things she loves without a single breath of happiness on her cherry lips… Whenever he remembers the life he chose to leave—the countless riddles he shared with his mental rival and the task force, the countless times he awed the crowd with his flying and free-falling and magic tricks and pink smoke…

This… staying under the cold, heartless cloak of the shadows is making him think…

Was this a mistake?

A/N: To be fair it's my first time writing from Toichi's POV. I think I did a great job with it. Also, I'd prefer it if he stays dead, TBH. His and Akai's case are so darn different, really. There's just so much emotional pain for Kaito and Chikage. *hugs them* *hugs myself too cos I'm secretly feeling very lonely...shh, don't tell!*

Who knows, I might angst again a week from now or something...? I'm FINALLY in the last stage of editing IMHA's latest chapter. Just one more scene and I'm done. Yays.

Anyways, stay awesome, lovelies!

Love lots,

neonquincy1217